February24, 2010

Ernest Parker looked at his son, Ronel, and simply said, Im not leaving here without you; I am bringing you home.

A little more than two weeks ago, family, friends and supporters filled Bush Intercontinental Airport to welcome the two home from Haiti and celebrate Ronels arrival home.

For about two years, Ernest and his wife, Debra, who reside in Kingwood, have been working hard to adopt Ronel from Haiti.

We found Ronels story through a blog and we began to follow his story. It was not until I went on a mission trip to Haiti when I finally met Ronel and we decided we wanted to start the process to adopt him, Debra said.

The Parkers began to file the necessary paperwork with the Haitian government to adopt Ronel as their son and bring him to their Kingwood home.

The Parkers were already in the second stage of the adoption process when the earthquake destroyed Haiti.

The first things we thought about was whether or not Ronel was safe and if our paperwork was even intact because in Haiti, everything is done on paper and not in computers, Debra explained.

Ronel was safe and the Haitian government allowed humanitarian parole, which means if a family was at a certain point in the adoption process before the earthquake, the children would be sent to where their adoptive parents were located.

The Parkers had to hurry and complete some paperwork for Ronel to be allowed to leave and they received several phone calls during this time, telling them to do different things with their paperwork.

Their paperwork was submitted and three weeks later, Ronel was included in the group of orphan refugees being sent to their homes, but because of problems with the paperwork, Ronel did not make the cutoff and was stuck in Haiti.

It was very hard on Ronel because he had his best clothing on, ready to come home, and they would not let him. That is when Ernest decided it would be best to go to Haiti and plead for his son and plead to bring him home, Debra said.

For eight days, Ernest slept on the floor of the Embassy with Ronel as they dealt with paperwork issues. When Ernest thought the paperwork was correct and they were going to receive approval, something would go wrong.

It was a lot of drama. We had everything ready for us to return home but then they needed fingerprints, which we had already given them. Then when I was able to do the fingerprinting, they messed up the prints; we went through four fingerprinting processes in five days, Ernest recalled.

It was then that friends, family and other people who had followed the story through continuous updates on Ernests Twitter page that they all started to rally together to bring Ernest and Ronel home.

The paperwork was submitted once again and Ernest was told to find a flight home someway and the paperwork was approved.

The paperwork had to be signed by the Haiti prime minister. We found a flight but sat there waiting for almost three and a half hours for them to bring the paperwork, Ernest said. The lady who had talked to me previously was not returning my calls and the paperwork was not signed, so we could not leave.

Frustrations and emotions boiled over for Ernest, Ronel and supporters back home. U.S. Rep. Ted Poe heard about the story and decided to step in to bring the duo home.

Ernest and Ronel left Haiti that evening on a military flight because of Poe and everyone fighting for their return. The two had their own Amazing Race experience trying to make it back home since they had to provide their own transportation from where the military flight landed in Miami to the place that would take them to Houston; they barely made it by the skin of their teeth.

The amazing thing about all of this is everyone that rallied behind us and helped us along the way. I was amazed when we returned home that so many people knew about our story whether it was from Twitter or Debras blog, Ernest said.

Father and son were welcomed home by friends, family and supporters right when they stepped off the escalator into baggage claim Feb. 4.

Poe even presented a special pair of cowboy boots to Ronel along with a U.S. flag that flew over the Capitol.

The Parkers still need to file for legal guardianship but they are excited to have Ronel home to join their family of now six. Joining Ronel, Debra and Ernest have three other kids - Carly, Colton and Jude - and the older two have welcomed Ronel with open arms.

Ronel likes to spend time with Colton playing outside, and his favorite thing is to ride his bicycle.

The first thing Ronel wanted was pizza, Debra said.

There have been a few changes since Ronel has joined the family like they have outgrown their car and now need a larger vehicle.

Ronel will start the third grade after spring break and has quickly picked up English.

At first, we didnt know what to expect but it has been strangely familiar; he has fit right in with our family. The kids all love him and he loves them, Ernest said. He allows us to love him; we are just so thankful to have him in our family and our lives.